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THERE was strange goings on in two Carmarthen car parks when alarms started going off and cars would not lock or start.
Witnesses have described the chaos that ensued when cars of varying makes and models in St Peter's car park effectively shut down.
Some drivers returned to their cars thinking they had unlocked the motors with their fob, only for the alarm to go off.
Others could not get their cars to start because the immobilisers had locked on.
One of them, Paul Woollven, said whatever was causing the problem has reset everything on his truck, including wiping settings off his mobile phones, which would not work while he was in the town centre.
"Myself and several other people couldn't get our cars to lock with the fob," he said.
"When I was there, there was at least 20 people affected. None of them worked, their systems were all failing.
"A PCSO came down and watched over the vehicles while people were in town.
"My phone has reset and all the electricals on my truck have done the same.
"I was in St Peter's car park but there were alarms going off in John Street car park as well.
"It was as if someone had some sort of scanner.
"I've heard of it before where they will sit there and when you keep pressing the button they can pick up your code.
"I am taking my truck in to get the code re-set.
"People need to be aware, we all shut the door, walk off and press the fob over our shoulders."
Another witness described the situation as "madness" and likened it to something from X Files.
"It was crazy," she said. "Cars would not lock, alarms were going off and cars wouldn't start.
"I was in John Street and I could hear alarms in St Peter's so I went through to see it was happening there too.
"Fortunately I could lock my car manually, but some people's cars didn't have that option.
"No-one seemed to know what was going on.
"After a while it stopped, it was as if someone turned it off. It was quite spooky."
It is not the first time this phenomenon has happened in the county.
Last June a similar incident was reported in Parc Trostre car park, although there were no reports of anything other than cars being affected.
A Dyfed-Powys Police spokeswoman said: "Police in Carmarthen attended at St Peter's car park at 12.15pm on Monday, July 27, following a report of a suspicious activity.
"Officers attended and discovered approximately 12 vehicles were unable to be locked with their electronic key systems in one area of the car park.
"There was no evidence of any offences being committed or any suspicious devices present. The incident was reported to Carmarthenshire Council. There was no further police action."